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“They’re only swollen a little compared to what they were when I checked into this joint,” the seventy-two-year-old woman with end-stage congestive heart failure said a bit breathily. “I can actually move my toes again.”
She wiggled them back and forth.
On arrival in the emergency department, she’d been retaining so much fluid that her skin had been too tight for her to flex her toes. She’d had weeping from her skin on her shins and calves and had had crackles in her lungs. Had she not been brought to the hospital, she would have drowned in her own body fluids.
“There’s still enough fluid that I can’t make out your pedal pulses, though.” Hopefully after another round of diuretics the swelling would go down even more.
The woman glanced at her feet. “Honey, this is a good ankle day in my book.” She paused to catch her breath. “I’m pretty sure if y’all would let me up out of this bed, I could even get these boogers into a pair of shoes. Most days I feel like one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters trying to shove my monstrosity into a glass slipper.”
Trinity smiled at her patient. She really liked Jewel. The older woman had spunk.
“What about you? Some lucky fellow slip a glass slipper onto your foot and make you feel just like a princess?”
Why was it that the elderly felt they had a right to ask questions about one’s private life? Why was it that Trinity felt obligated to answer the feisty older woman?
Hoping her face was unreadable, she raised her foot up from the floor to display her solid white nursing shoes. “No glass slipper for me.”
“A pity.”
“Not really.” Trinity slipped the skin protectors back around Jewel’s feet to prevent skin breakdown and positioned her feet on the pillows to keep them elevated. “I don’t need a man to slip my foot into a glass slipper. I’m way too practical for that. Besides, with my luck a glass slipper would only shatter and cut my foot up anyway.”
Trinity smiled at the woman, but Jewel’s face was pinched into a frown.
“Maybe the wrong quality of men have been attempting to slip glass slippers onto your feet. You need to upgrade.”
Ha. No man had been attempting to slip a glass slipper onto her foot, but she wouldn’t admit that to Jewel. Besides, she had no right to complain. Riley treated her as if she really were the princess he often called her. She had to admit that most of the time she liked the attention he showered on her. Who needed glass slippers and a Prince Charming when you had a handsome cardiologist trying to woo you into Christmas cheer?
Trinity tucked the bed sheet and white blanket around her patient’s elevated legs. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time a Prince Charming asks to see my feet.”
The woman chuckled. “I like you.”
Trinity shot the woman another smile. “You can sweet-talk me all you want, but I’m still going to give you your medication.”
“I never thought you wouldn’t.” The woman practically cackled. “When’s that handsome doctor of mine going to be here?”
“Dr. Williams should be by any time. He was here earlier, but got called to the cardiac lab for a procedure.” She’d only caught a glimpse of him, but a glimpse had been all it had taken to get her heart racing. Especially with how he’d winked at her when their eyes had met. Karen had teased her on that one, but Trinity hadn’t really cared. Most of the time he made her feel good. And confused.
Although everyone at the hospital had accepted that they were a couple, Trinity just wasn’t sure exactly what they were. Other than a few brief kisses and holding her hand, he barely touched her. What was his game? “I expect he’ll be finishing up some time soon.”
Did she mean with the patient or with her?
Jewel sighed. “I’d like to be home for Christmas. Maybe he’ll let me leave this evening.”
“Maybe,” Trinity said, adjusting the setting on Jewel’s intravenous pump. The woman wasn’t receiving any fluids currently as her problem was fluid overload. However, her diuretics were being given intravenously and Trinity had just hung a new bag of the medication. “But I doubt it. You were a really sick lady when you got here yesterday morning. We really need to get more fluid off before you can go home.”
Jewel eyed the bag of medication. “But I’m a lot better than I was and that stuff there is going to help even more.”
“True, but you’re also heavily medicated and Dr. Williams will want to keep a close check on your electrolytes for at least another day, probably longer. Your medication can deplete your potassium and if that happens, a whole new set of problems could occur.”
“We can’t have that.”
“Which is why I don’t think he’ll discharge you any time soon. Or at least not until after you’ve had your echocardiogram.”
Jewel sighed. “That’s the ultrasound thing with the sticky stuff on my chest?”
“Yes, ma’am. No pain involved.” Trinity entered the data from her assessment of Jewel into the in-room computer and that she’d begun administration of the medication ordered.
“How’s my most beautiful patient doing this evening?”
